No Gilded Cage to Hold Ye
by Volleys-chan
Summary: After years of plotting and planning, Trafalgar Law has finally become a captain of his own vessel. Now all he needs is a crew to match his own ambitions. He will only select the best of the best, regardless of gender, age, or species. Look out Grand Line, the Surgeon of Death his making his debut with one wild and crazy crew.


**Disclaimer: I do not own One piece, but I do own my ideas and my OCs**

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_**No Gilded Cage to Hold Ye**_

_Chapter 1_

One's Not So Average Day

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"The best things in life are unexpected - because there were no expectations."

-Eli Khamarov

* * *

It wasn't everyday that a man came to their humble little port town in a yellow submarine. In fact, Boss, the name all the guys had dubbed him since he was, in fact, the boss, was pretty sure that this was the first time that he had ever been asked to do _repairs_ on a submarine. Marine ships were constant customers with all the Sea Kings that prowled about the calm belt that was near this humble little island, but a submarine filled with rookie pirates heading to the Grand Line...

Well it definitely was a lot of firsts for good ol' Boss, but that didn't mean he was about to turn down a customer. The Marines knew and understood that sometimes customers would not always have the cleanest... pasts, but in a small port town like this: Beli was beli. And if they refused to help pirates, the pirates might retaliate and the Marine base was on the other side of the island.

Too far to call for fast help.

So here Boss was, looking up at the young, tall captain of the unusual vessel and hoping that the word 'death' that was tattooed across his tan fingers didn't mean anything ill for him.

"We have blueprints as well as our own mechanics that could assist you in the repairs, but I'm afraid that this job is a bit too big for my men at this time." The lanky man explained to him with a loose, almost lazy smile on his face.

Boss knew this man might look pretty low-key, but his aura just screamed deadly.

"Yeah..." Boss nodded, pondering what to do about the dilemma of repairing the sub. "Look, I'll be honest, my men and I don't 'ave the proper trainin' ta fix it. Yer men would definitely need ta be 'ere while we try'n patchin' up yer vessel. Most of us know 'ow ta fix ships 'cause it's been our strongest and only trade fer generations. I only has one laddie that pro'ly be capable of even readin' yer blueprints. If he has a gander at 'em, he might be able ta tell us what ta do, if yer mechanics can't. If yer alright with those conditions, I'll call the lad over 'ere and we can start."

"I suppose that sounds fair enough." The man nodded, glancing over his shoulder to speak to the oddly dressed _polar bear_ standing right behind him. "Bepo, go get Mister Penguin and Mister Shachi and tell them to bring our submarine's blueprints as well. If this young man and the two of them agree upon what steps should be taken, we will be employing these men to help fix our sub."

Boss nearly had a heart attack then and there when the standing bear gave a nod before saying "Yes Captain" before heading back to the yellow submarine.

Add another first to that growing list of firsts. A walking, talking polar bear wearing an orange jumpsuit and boots.

His wife was never going to believe him when he tells her of his day.

Clearing his throat, Boss turned to shout out to the shipyard full of men in his heavy accent, calling for the very lad he had made mention to the pirate captain. "OZ! Git' yer fat ass over 'ere!"

There were suddenly lots of noise as his other men goaded the lad, teasing him about how he was now in trouble if Boss was calling. Boss ignored their jibs to the lad, more worried about how angry the boy would be at him for putting him in the spotlight. The kid had a policy about keeping his head down and not being the center of attention. He was simply one of those people who preferred not to be seen and liked it that way. Calling him out was sure to get him on the kid's shit list, but Oz was too cowardly to really do anything to Boss other than give him unhappy looks and refuse an extra task or two.

As the boy came forth, hesitant and slightly frightened by the tall, deadly pirate captain, said pirate captain looked back over to Boss with a raised brow, questioning the young lad before him. Now, Boss knew that Oz didn't look very significant or above average, which suited the boy just fine, in fact. Oz looked barely sixteen, which Boss was sure he wasn't much older than seventeen at most, _slightly_ on the heavy side, about five foot four, a nice tan from all the time he spent outside working, and under his black leather newsboy cap that he wore backwards was an always clean shaven head. The only thing about this lad that was notable was his sharp canary yellow eyes that seemed to see and comprehend nearly everything before them.

"This 'ere is Oz." Boss introduced the lad, pulling Oz in front of him with his hands on his shoulders with the boy being pulled along reluctantly. "He might not look mighty special, but the lad's got a knack fer fixin' anythin' he can get his grubby 'ands onta. Why, he once got a'old of me pocket watch, the thing's been broke fer years at that point, and when I wasn't lookin' one day, the little bugger snatched it and 'ou'ta curiosity' fixed the confounded contraption!"

Oz looked away, blushing in mortification at Boss's praise. The young captain nodded, however, he still looked unsure of whether or not the young lad was as capable as Boss said he was.

"Don't judge the boy 'till after he looks at yer blueprints."

The man nodded, his grey eyes giving Oz a piercing gaze from under his spotted fur cap, watching as the boy flinched under his scrutiny. Boss felt sorry for the lad and that he had put him there, but business was business and he was not about to refuse business to a man as dangerous as this one seemed to be.

"Are you truly capable of reading something as complex as blueprints or are you barely capable of reading at all?" He questioned in that relaxed tone, yet with no doubt mocking Boss and the other island local's language skills and inability to read more than a few words.

Oz narrowed his yellow eyes as he clenched his jaw, Boss nearly groaned when it was apparent that Oz's ill temper was surfacing. It was the only thing that made his usual timid employee become brazen and outspoken.

"I can read, I can write, I can formulate and properly articulate sentences, and I can, with no doubt, comprehend the schematics to your submarine far better than _you_ ever could hope to." Oz snarled, his voice was low and harsh.

"Oh?" The captain said with a sneering smirk. "So, Mister Oz thinks he can fix my submarine, does he?"

"Not by myself, I'm not daft enough to even think I could manage a project of that size alone, but yes, I think I could figure out what isn't working in your vessel and manage to get it repaired!" Oz countered, his temper obviously still blinding him to the dangers of speaking so brazenly to a man like this one.

Instead of losing his temper, like Boss thought the man would, his sneering smirk turned to one of amusement, like he had gotten what he had wanted from the boy.

"Very well then, Mister Oz," the menacing man said with a twisted grin and malicious look in his eyes. "You, with the assistance of my head mechanics, will figure out what is malfunctioning and perhaps damaged upon my vessel and use your resources to fix it within the week. Any longer and I'll kill you slowly for your insolence. How does that sound?"

Finally, Boss could see his timid, pussy-footed employee coming back up to surface, suddenly very aware of the predicament he had put himself into, but the lad did well to hide it. He merely swallowed hard, eyes never softening or wavering as he gave one definite and determined nod before turning around and walking back into the shipyard towards the decent sized portable Boss used as his office.

"And where are you going, Mister Oz?" The pirate captain asked in a dark tone, making Boss wonder if he was trying to be intimidating or he naturally spoke in such a cryptically dark manner.

"I have to get something to write and take notes upon if I am ever to fix your submarine and I know for a fact that they will not appear out of thin air. So I should get my supplies, should I not?" Oz called over his shoulder in a snarky manner Boss hardly ever heard the lad take when actually addressing people.

Boss almost rolled his eyes in disbelief. This lad was going to be the death of them all if he didn't learn to shut his trap! And what was worse was that he, Boss, was to blame for the young mechanic meeting the pirate captain. He could see the man frowning heavily at Oz's sarcastic wit, not at all please at the tone given to him.

"Please, you'll 'ave ta forgive the laddie. Oz has no kin ta speak of and he's been on his own since before comin' 'ere. He's a good, hard'n smart worker, but not much else. The only other thing besides me and a few others t'at likes the lad is his damnable cat." Boss explained, hoping that if the man understood the poor lad a little better he'd not kill everyone, including Oz, for the lad's rude behavior.

The man stared at Boss for a good long while, making Boss, who was a big, strong man while the pirate captain was a tall, lanky man, want to quiver in his boots. Finally, he turned his gaze away from Boss and began to slowly stride back to his sub, probably to find his talking bear who never came back with either the blueprints or the head mechanics.

However, before he was out of hearing range, he called back to Boss. "I don't take orders. Remember that next time you think to tell me about."

"Yes'sir!" Boss slurred the two words together in his hasty response. Suddenly he thought of one last thing that he should address before finding Oz, who was no doubt hyperventilating in the corner of his office by now, and helping him calm down. "W'at's yer name, sir?"

The man paused, turned his head to give him a frightfully wicked smirk, before turning his head forward again and walking once more to his sub. He gave his answer as he left. "Trafalgar Law."

Though Boss hadn't heard of this pirate before, it was obvious that it was because they were relatively new and had yet made a name for themselves. But one thing was for sure, with a man like that leading the band of pirates... it was only a matter of time. And Boss had a feeling that he had unknowingly thrown poor Oz into the middle of it all.

* * *

"Sooooo, let's see if we can get this straight..." Penguin stared incredulously at his captain.

Shachi picked up where his best friend had trailed off, giving Law the same look of disbelief. "You want us to work alongside these stupid island locals who have shown little to no reading capabilities even within their own environment _at all-_"

"And, by _reading_ the blueprints to a complex piece of machinery, figure out how to repair a submarine?" Penguin finished up for the two of them.

He had stopped them as they had finally been leaving the submarine after spending the last half an hour relocating the submarine's schematics that had been buried in Law's overloaded office. Bepo, the poor navigating bear wherever he might be now, had been lost in the mess. Both he and Shachi vowed to go back one day and rescue him from his dreadful fate of being buried alive. That or tell Law that Bepo had gotten buried under an avalanche of yet filed papers in his office when pulling out the blueprints from the bottom the stack and the two of them had been too lazy to get him out.

"Now, now," Law teasingly chastised them with a cheshire grin. He was too proud of himself for some reason. "I didn't say the whole village was going to assisting you, did I? Merely one of them is going to be looking at the blueprints alongside the two of you and he _assured_ me he could do more than read a handful of words."

"What? Can he read two handfuls?" Penguin shot back snarkily.

"Cause that still isn't really helpful if he's just not as stupid as the rest but still stupider than he should be." Shachi informed their captain.

"If he proves to be unintelligent and more of a hinderance than an asset, I've already promised the boy I'd kill him." Law waved the two's concern off like nothing.

"If you say so Captain." The two of them chimed together as they shrugged simultaneously as well.

Really, who were they to question Law's authority or reasoning? Though they were definitely more than his unimportant minions, Shachi and Penguin knew there was only one person on the whole submarine that could get away with questioning Law's authority or rational and _neither_ of them were that person. Maybe Bepo could get away with it too, but someone would have to find the polar bear in all that paper first to test that theory.

"Ja, I do say so." Law told with lazy smirk before it slowly disappeared as he noticed something missing. "Where is Bepo? He was suppose to come back with you two."

"Uhhhhh..." the two of them started at the same time, glance at each other to try to figure out what they should _tell_ their captain.

"He's trapped under a bunch of papers and books in your office, Captain." Shachi finally stated.

"We tried to get him out, but he told us you were expecting us shortly..." Penguin continued on the explanation.

"So we left him there." Shachi bluntly finished.

"Again?" Law grumbled as he crossed his arms and looked extremely vexed.

Both Shachi and Penguin _knew_ that Law was a peculiar man. He was an absolute neat freak when it came to his infirmary, but his room and captain's office were severely neglected. Law could honestly care less about his room, but his office was a mess merely because he had yet found the time to sort and organize the area. So things ended up being stacked up into precariously tall towers of books and papers that often tumbled onto unsuspecting (or suspecting) people (or polar bears) when they _had_ to go into the office to either talk to Captain Law or (more often than not) retrieve something. Even Law had fallen victim several times before and had to wait for someone to notice him missing at meal time before anyone started to search for him.

"Yeah." Both of them responded with heavy sighs. "_Again._"

Law looked exasperated as he dropped his arms to his sides and let out a long sigh. "Go. The person you're to meet is in the solitary portable building with his boss. His name is Oz."

"Alright Captain, but... aren't you coming too?" Shachi asked right before Law began to head to the entrance of the submarine.

"I have a polar bear to find in my office before Leon finds out." Law grumbled.

Both men nodded. They knew that if there was one person Law wouldn't want finding out about what happened _yet again_ in his office was Leon. The man had been nagging Law about the state his office was in and poor Bepo's incident would only add fuel to the fire, though Leon always made a very good point about it being a serious safety hazard. However, they were not about to point out that Leon was right- they were not stupid despite any inane behavior they may partake in on occasion. Instead, both kept their mouths shut and began to head to the heart of the shipyard to where the boss's portable office resigned, leaving Law to find his navigator by himself.

"I hope he doesn't get buried as well." Shachi commented to Penguin when they were out of their captain's hearing range.

"I hope Leon isn't the one who ends up digging the two of them out if he does." Penguin added.

Both let out a shiver at the idea of the man being in a pissy mood. The two of them could only hope Law would be successful in his rescue mission.

As for them, they had to go meet up with the idiot who pretty much forfeited his life if he failed to bring forth the promised results. He was in the office, like Law said he would be, with his boss who was rattling on about something to the person they assumed was their guy since he was clearing off the single desk in the office to make room for the blueprints they had. They both silently gapped at how young the kid seemed to be and were instantly questioning if maybe the older man with the thick accent was actually Oz instead of being the boss of the establishment.

"Are you the two men that Mister Trafalgar sent to collaborate with me on repairing the submarine?" The lad asked, instantly answering any unspoken questions about who Oz was in that one question.

"Uhhh... Yeah." Penguin couldn't stop staring at the kid. He didn't look like much. He was kinda sorta chubby, his jumpsuit was a standard jean blue with loads of stains upon it from all the jobs the boy seemed to do. In fact, the only unique trait this kid had was that he had sharp, canary yellow eyes.

Luckily for Penguin, Shachi was quick to recover and ensure the two of them didn't look as stupid as the dumbstruck man was making them out to be.

"I'm Shachi and this is Penguin. Captain said that you're the guy to talk to about repairing our submarine. Oz, right?"

"That's right," Oz nodded, looking over at his boss who gave him a firm nod before leaving the room as he mumbled something about getting back to his own job. "I'm Oz. I was just making room for you to stretch out the blueprints. I need to study the submarine's schematics for a while in order to understand how the vessel as a whole operates so that I may understand what might be malfunctioning."

Oz had looked away from the two of them as he continued to move things around on the desk to make room. He spoke to them in a low but clear manner, making the two realize that the boy was indeed a soft-spoken individual. He seemed slightly relieved by the fact that it was just the two of them and that their captain was no where in sight. He was still slightly nervous looking, but both Heart pirates weren't really focusing on that at the moment. Too shocked to do anything but listen to the kid talk.

"I was hoping to get your perspective on the whole matter as well," Oz continued, unaware of their stunned looks. "Since you two have probably been managing your vessel for a while. I might not understand a few things- jargon and some short-hand probably- on the blueprints and would require your knowledge. Your captain didn't say what was wrong with the submarine, merely that it was in disarray and that he wished it to be fixed. Between the three of us, I suppose we could figure out what is not working accordingly and put it right. Hopefully within the week as well, since that was the time restraint given to me. Is that an acceptable arrangement for you, Mister Shachi? Mister Penguin?"

"If it is figuring out what isn't working right, shouldn't we actually be systematically checking out the different engine segments on the sub instead of looking at the blueprints?" Shachi asked, interested in why they would start with the blueprints instead of running the equipment and seeing what section wasn't working properly.

"Normally yes," Oz agreed, looking up and setting his eyes on the rolled up schematics in Penguin's arms. "But the problem lies not only in the fact that the machine isn't working as it should, but that I am not familiar with the machine. By studying the designs, I should be able to familiarize myself with it well enough to be on par with your understanding of the submarine that you acquired through time spent working on it."

"Makes sense." Penguin agreed, finally moving further into the office. "So, this is more for your benefit than ours, right?"

Oz nodded as he held out his hand and took some of the rolled blueprints from Penguin as the man began to upload his burden onto the desk. "In a way, it is in all our interest if I learn more about your vessel. But to save time, could you tell me what made your crew stop here for repairs and your theories on why it is malfunctioning?"

"Yeah," Shachi strode over to the desk as he spoke, sitting on the corner of the furniture as he watched the teen unroll the first of several blueprints and study their complex designs. "We actually had to _sail_ here instead of using the engines. It was working just fine until we had an interesting encounter with a Sea King that gave our submarine a good few hits. There is no damage to the exterior of the vessel, but the engines up and quit shortly afterwards. I think we might have either dislodged a few pieces or some of the parts were damaged. Problem is, we can't seem to locate where the problem is as a whole because the engine won't turn on at all."

"But our power is still on." Penguin added. "We have a generator on the ship that we use as both a power supply to the basic utilities upon the ship and also the ignition to start the engine. That's still working and nothing came loose, so we already ruled that out."

"Plus the engine is almost always on unless we purposely decide to be dead in the water or are in port."

"So, is it working at all? Like it sounds like its trying to start or is it just not responding at all?" Oz asked, jotting down notes as he continued to look at the designs in front of him.

"It'll make the right noise, but something must be jammed or damaged because it won't fire up for longer that ten seconds before making a huge booming sound and shutting itself off through its failsafe." Penguin informed Oz.

Oz nodded his head, still studying the large blue papers before him, opening up new ones, and jotting notes. He was silent for a moment before asking another question, which Shachi or Penguin would proceed to answer. Oz would jot down more notes in response to their answers while his eyes never wavered from the blueprints before him. Both Heart pirates present could sense the lad's nervousness vanish the longer he was with the two of them and totally entranced by his studying.

Both Penguin and Shachi were really impressed by the boy's professionalism as he continued to ask relevant questions about their own attempts at finding the source. Not only that, but the kid was soaking up the information from the schematics like a sponge with water. He was smart and capable, moreso than their captain initially realized when employing the lad originally. By the time they called it a day, Oz was finished with his first analysis and informed both men that he was more than ready to have a gander at the actual malfunctioning engine.

The two Heart pirates had never seen someone catch on so quickly. They had spent several years studying advance machinery as aspiring engineers back at the university they had originally been introduced to Law at. Of course, neither had the financial means to go to such an expensive institution without working their asses off taking as many shifts as mechanics in a local shipyard as they could when they weren't in school or doing their homework. Most of the ships they had built engines for where Marine warships, but it was also the first place they had seen such a commodity as a submarine and it had been their suggestion to Law to obtain one as his vessel after he had recruited them into his crew. So both of them were well versed in drawing, reading, and utilizing blueprints, but it was apparent that Oz didn't have all their experience under his belt, with him being so young, and yet he seemed to grasp the concept quickly and was confident he could now do what Shachi and Penguin had spent years learning.

Though both felt a twinge of jealousy, neither could deny the strong desire to have this kid on their ship as their underling. There were currently only four extremely overworked mechanics trying to care for such a huge piece of machinery on top of several other mechanical devices that needed their attention as well. If they could obtain someone like this kid, they would no doubt lighten their burden and have things running a lot smoother on the submarine.

"Since your submarine is to be repaired, I imagine all of you will be staying at the local inn, am I correct?" Oz said as he gathered up the blueprints and began to roll them back up.

It was about five o'clock and it was quitting time at the shipyard for the men that had the day time shift. The graveyard shift was mainly the watch guards to make sure no one without the right clearance got into the area.

"Yeah. The Bella Inn." Penguin nodded, remembering where their crew mate, Elias, had said he had booked them to stay.

"Alright. Since I am going to be accompanying you to look at your engines tomorrow, I should probably meet you there. What time would you like me to show up?" Oz asked, standing as he did so and tucking the rolls of blueprints underarm.

He was going to take them home so he could look at them a little longer before returning them back into their rightful owners' hands, Penguin and Shachi had already agreed to the idea since they didn't really need them for the moment.

"When can we get back into the shipyard?"

"The earliest is five, but most of the people on that particular shift are there to open up. Seven is when most of the other employees come to actually start working." Oz told them.

"Eight then. That way we're not in the way and we've gotten our breakfast and coffee." Shachi nodded.

"Alright. I'll see you then." Oz nodded before escorting the two Hearts out of Boss's office before locking up. "I will be sure to keep these blueprints safe until I can return them to you in the morning. Thank you again for the opportunity to study these a little longer."

"No problem." Shachi waved off the gratitude of the young boy.

"It's the least we can do since, with your help, we might actually get our engine working again." Penguin added.

"I'll see what I can do." Oz muttered, wincing as he remembered his current predicament.

Shachi and Penguin walked with the bald lad for a bit in silence, until they found themselves merging with the crowd of men shuffling out of the shipyard now that their shift was over. They realized that the lad was talented at melting into a crowd in a matter of seconds by how easily weaved his way through the mass of men. Realizing that their best option was to follow his lead, they quickly went after him before they could accidentally lose sight of him entirely. The two almost lost the boy once or twice with him being as quick as he was, but they managed to make it through the crowd without too much struggle.

Once out of the shipyard and into the small town, Shachi and Penguin headed over to where Bella Inn was; Oz having never once stopped his pace as he headed in the opposite direction. Though it may have seemed rude of the lad to not bid them goodbye, both knew how eager he had been at studying the submarine's schematics on a more detailed level. Making haste for their newest destination, both pirates attempted to ignore the level of hostility sent their way by the locals. They might have been pirates, but they were relatively new at it and were unaccustomed to the looks that went with the status. Doing their best to ignore it, they kept their guard up as they kept walking. The two mechanics felt a level of stress lift from their shoulders as they finally walked through the threshold of the humble looking inn.

Elias definitely hadn't picked out the nicest looking inn, no surprise there, but the inn's environment lacked the hostile vibes they had received their whole way from the shipyard to the inn. The entrance of the inn was a simple, large wooden tavern with a kitchen on the opposite side of the bar. There was a large brick fireplace with couches around it, a few wooden furnishings, including tables and chairs and stools, and a counter where the innkeeper normally greeted their guests. A staircase was at the far side of the room, where the rooms were, no doubt.

With a quick scan of the room, it was obvious that the Heart pirates were the only inhabitants of the inn at the moment. Elias was sitting at the tables playing poker rather bored like with the other two mechanics on the crew as well as their captain's medical assistant. From the looks of the other three's faces, Elias was winning and from the looks on Elias's face, he wished that they were playing with real beli, not cookies and unwanted snacks.

Leon, the sub's appointed cook, was keeping himself busy by cooking, which was rather ironic since they were staying at a inn, where their meals _should_ have been supplied by the innkeepers. His young assistant was trying his best to fulfill his given tasks of cutting, peeling, and washing while hoping that Leon would eventually let him help do more than prep the food for the actual cooking. Both Shachi and Penguin had known Leon long enough to know that would _never_ happen.

Locking in on their captain, the two of them made their way over to the fireplace where both Law and Bepo were lounging. More like, where Bepo was taking a nap and the captain using his navigator as a oversized pillow as he busied himself with a thick, hard covered book.

Noticing their return, he looked up from his reading before glancing back down to take note of the page number before shutting the textbook entirely. If there was one thing that everyone in the crew knew about their captain, it was that he _hated_ it when people hurt his books, not even dog-earring the page was tolerated. At all.

"So, how did your meeting with Mister Oz turn out? Is this worth our time or should I just kill him now and save us the trouble?" Law asked with a lazy, dark smile spreading across his lips.

"The entire meeting was mostly spent getting Oz familiar with the submarine's blueprints." Penguin reported to his superior. "He has never worked on such a machine before and wished to first familiarize himself with how it is _suppose_ to operate before actually taking a look at the malfunctioning engine."

"By the end of our session, he was confident that he could start working with us on repairing the engine and seems to have a few theories in his head as to _why_ the engine won't run." Shachi quickly added on before their captain could get a word in. "I'll have to be honest Captain. When I first saw the kid, I didn't think there was a chance in _hell_ he could help us, but now... I'm thinking he might actually help us fixed our engine, in _less_ than a week."

Law let out a sly smirk. "So it seems that Mister Oz will be of use, ja?"

"Yeah. Definitely a lot more than if we were to get help from any other person here."

"Or even elsewhere." Penguin continued on where Shachi finished. "Submarines aren't common and its engine isn't just something someone can fiddle with without understanding the basics of how it is suppose to function. Most common shipyard men wouldn't be able to read the blueprints too well either. I don't know how many other people out there would even know the workings of a submarine _because_ they are such a rare commodity!"

"Oi! What are we? Chopped liver over here?" One of the two other mechanics called over to them, having been eavesdropping unashamed on their superiors' report about the young lad.

"We aren't chopped liver, Odd. While Shachi and Penguin were busy putting themselves neck high in debt, we were busy building our lovely _Persephone_." The other mechanic reminded his counterpart continued to play cards.

"We're lucky you both decided to join the crew, Ignaas, Oddmund." Penguin pointed out. "Even though you two aren't _educated_ in engineering on the same level as Shachi and I, you two spent enough time on the team _building_ her and her sisters that you understand how she functions through sheer experience."

"_Che_," Elias let out a disdainful noise as he showed his royal flush to the other men playing poker with him. "You speak about the submarine as if it was actually a woman. Just because one of you decided to name it _Persephone_ doesn't mean it is a lady, nor are the other submarines developed by your old company its 'sisters'."

"You obviously are not a man of the sea, Elias." Leon tsked as he continued to cook, cutting in before any of the actual mechanics could form an angry response. "Then again, I don't think that you'd _be_ on our crew if it hadn't been for that ill _gambling_ habit of yours. How large is that underworld bounty for your head again, hmm?"

"Large enough that I joined a band of rookie pirates, sail the oceans in a submarine, go weeks at times without a woman or two in my bed, and perform manual labor as well as handle your finances for next to nothing." Elias listed rather waspishly while dealing out the cards for the next round of poker and preemptively placing his bets.

"You do realize that we all get equal pay, right?" Orpheus, the medical assistant, pointed out as he began to ready his hand. "Fold."

"You always fold." Ignaas grumbled as he put two cards down and received two more. "Call. As for mister hoity-toity over here," Ignaas raised his pinky in a mocking manner. "That's barely enough to buy his _precious_ caviar."

"It _isn't_ enough to buy a single can of quality caviar, you plebeian."

"Call. We might be 'commoners' but that doesn't mean we're too stupid to know when a plutocrat like you is trying to insult us. You're born of noble blood and from a well off family. So what? In the end, you're stuck on the same submarine as us 'lower-class' because of your mistakes." Oddmund shot back.

Elias gave Oddmund a long, unamused gaze before laying his cards face up on the table. "Full house."

"Damn it!" Oddmund shouted, throwing his cards on the table in frustration. "I thought I had you this time!"

"And you wonder why I always fold." Orpheus muttered under his breath as he tossed his cards face down on the table.

"Is it sad that he hardly seems fazed by our comments, Odd?" Ignaas sighed as he too threw his less than desired hand on the table too.

"I've already accepted that I'm stuck with you lot. Plus, insulting me was an obvious attempt at trying to cover up your meager bluff. You two are extremely predictable at times." Elias said irritably as he gathered up his 'winnings'. "And by the way, I have never really enjoyed splurging my wealth upon caviar. I think it is more practical to eat salt than buy expensive fish eggs that taste nearly the same."

"Not that Mister Elias's spending habits are not interesting, but I'd like to get back to the subject at hand. How long do you think it will take to fix the engine?" Law brought all their attentions back to Penguin and Shachi, who had been side-tracked by the tangent their original conversation seemed to have led to.

"Maybe a week. Possibly less." Penguin summarized at last. "We'll know for certain tomorrow after doing our initial tests with Oz."

Law nodded, opening up his book once more and searching for his spot. "Then I will let young Mister Oz live a little longer. Thank you Mister Shachi, Mister Penguin. You are officially off duty for now."

"Yes Captain." Both playfully saluted their designated leader before grabbing themselves chairs and joining the other mechanics at losing poker.

"Seriously Law, you actually threatened to kill the boy if he fails to come through?" Leon asked in an exasperated tone.

He was the only one besides Bepo, who only did so on rare occasions, that actually called their captain by his first name. Even Elias called him Captain Law rather than Law. But then again, Leon had known Law long before the others met him at the university and was quite use to the strange doctor captain.

"And if I did?" Law sounded a little too pleased with himself as he continued to read.

"Oh, nothing, just that it probably isn't the best idea to threaten the locals if we are forced to stay here for a week." Leon lectured, still focusing on cooking his nakama's dinner. "The locals have already displayed their general dislike for outsiders. Let's not force them to elevate their hateful glares and rude comments into actual acts of violence before the week is done." Leon's focus quickly snapped over to his assistance before Law could even give him his retort. "And Basil, you need to cut those onions a little thinner and faster next time. They're too thick and it took you entirely too long to even cut them."

"Yes sir." Basil sighed as he worked harder at making the next onion more to his teacher's standard.

"Relax Leon." Law rolled his eyes before continuing to look at his textbook. "I'm not going to kill the boy unless he wastes my time. I've given him a deadline and Mister Oz assured me that he could accomplish it by that timeframe. I merely gave a little extra... _motive_ to complete it on time."

"Is this the same extra motive that you gave to your lab partner back at the university? Because, if my memory serves me right, she ran out the room, in tears, screaming that you were going to murder her."

"It wasn't all that bad." Law waved off casually, turning a page in his book as he continued to focus on it instead of Leon.

"She transferred to a different school in a single day and from what the rumors said, changed her name, her looks, and her major. She was a entire semester away from graduating, Law."

"Is that so?" Law drawled as he let a sly smirk slip across his features. "I always wondered what the general student population assumed happened to her. I know the staff thought she merely dropped out because of her declining grades."

"Tell me you didn't." Leon narrowed his eyes at his captain's implications.

"Hmm, hard to say. I didn't kill her, if that's what you mean. However, I am positive she didn't drop out or transfer schools."

Leon chose to drop the subject there and go back to cooking dinner. When it came to Law and his... _eccentric_ nature, sometimes it was best to leave things where they were, like whether or not his lab partner was actually alive. No one else in the room bothered to comment, instead opting to focus at their current tasks. The room was filled with an oddly comfortable silence, despite Law's last comment, and a relaxed mood while the only noise came from the card game, where every single time Elias won, the other men groaned and hissed words of displeasure at the lucky yet unfortunate noble turned pirate.

After some time of losing at poker, Shachi and Penguin were seconds away from asking the whereabouts of their host, or hosts, when a young woman appeared from a hallway directly under the stairwell. She had a beauty about her, fair skin, pitch black hair, and deep midnight blue eyes that sparkled. The two mechanics quickly forgot their words as the stared longingly at the dark haired beauty. She never once looked at the two as she came further into the room, nodding her head first at their captain before looking over at Leon.

"That smells wonderful! Far better than anything my sister and I could make." She said with a soft smile and slightly noticeable foreign accent. "Are you positive that is not too much trouble for you? It _is_ the responsibility of the innkeepers to prepare the meal for the guests, not the other way around."

It was obvious to both Penguin and Shachi, who had not met the woman prior to this, that she was not a local either. She spoke too well for someone who was actually raised on this near backwater town, just like Oz. It made them wonder if that was why this little inn lacked that air of hostility.

"It is no problem at all, Miss Bella," Leon waved her concerns off with a gentlemanly smile. "Cooking is more than just a job to me. I love to cook!"

"Oh please, call me Notte. No one ever addresses my sister or me as Miss Bella."

"Miss Notte, then." Leon nodded his head.

"I suppose that's as good as I will get out of you, isn't it? You, your captain, and Mr. Elias are entirely too polite." Notte laughed.

"Calling me Mister Elias doesn't help your argument, Miss Notte." Elias pointed out as he once more shuffled the cards for yet another round of poker.

"No, I suppose not." Notte agreed before walking to the window and taking a look outside at the darkening skies. "Are all your men in for the night, Mr. Law?"

"Yes they are, Miss Notte." Law affirmed, never looking up from his book.

"That's good. It seems like we're going to have a downpour tonight. Auntie Pluie said that she could feel it in her bones. Might even get some thunder, the way her joints have been aching." Notte mentioned as she peeked through the window at the sky.

"Joint pain predicting the weather? Isn't that just some old wive's tale?" Orpheus asked as he folded his hand once more.

"There are actually several theories about how the change of air pressure within the climate may affects the joints of some individuals. Usually, these people suffer from arthritis or other joint pain and it is theorized that because the nerves are already hypersensitive, the change of air pressure is noticeable to these individuals. So Mrs. Pluie may actually be able to, an extent, predict the weather." Law informed his assistant, never once quitting his reading as he spoke.

"So it really is going to rain, Captain?" Basil asked, looking up from his cutting to look at his captain.

"Wait and see, Mister Basil."

"My, my, such an educated and proper bunch." Notte clapped gleefully as she turned back around to look at them. "It is such a breath of fresh air listening to you all speak. No broken sentences, no derogatory statements about my disposition of being a woman, and most of all, you probably don't need me to tell you what 'derogatory' and 'disposition' actually mean."

"I'm guessing that people from this island aren't too friendly with outsiders?" Penguin asked.

"Because everyone on the way here were practically giving us the evil eye." Shachi added in. Both purposely left out the lack of elevated learning and ability to read on the off chance that Notte would take offense for some strange reason.

"Yes," Notte sighed heavily as she approached the bar that separated the kitchen from the lounge and sat in a stool facing the men playing poker. "The people of Roanoke Island are not too friendly with anyone born outside their community. The island was previously isolated from the rest of the world until the Marines came and forced them to open their docks and town to travelers. It's been roughly around 150 years since then, but the townsfolk still do not like outsiders. It's a little easier for foreign womenfolk to be accepted within the community as a whole, but that is because we are expected to marry one of their men and bare their children. Women from this island may tend the food stalls or the shops, but they can't actually do anything like work at the docks or anything that would make decent pay. They consider it a man's job and women are not welcomed. Even running an inn is considered a man's job."

"If that's so, how did your family end up running this establishment, Miss Notte?" Elias questioned. "If I recall from earlier this afternoon, there only seems to be women on staff."

"Yes, well, that's because Auntie Pluie was married to one of their men and inherited the inn after he passed. That is the _only_ reason why we run an inn and it nearly caused a riot among the townsfolk too, especially when Auntie Pluie changed the name of the inn to Bella Inn. I think she did that just to make the whole affair even more scandalous! Give the people something to actually fuss about, she said. She's always been a bit rebellious."

"So a woman can be accepted under the right conditions, but what about in the case of a man? Would he ever be fully accepted within the community or would he forever be an outcast?" Law's question caused the entire group, even Leon for a moment, to look his way, surprised that he was even paying attention to the conversation. His book was closed and he was observing Notte as he lounged comfortable against Bepo.

Notte blinked, taking a moment to understand what he was implying before her eyes lightened as a gentle smile spread across her lips. "Ah. You've met our dear little Oz, haven't you?"

"Ja, he's agreed to fix our method of transportation." Law tactfully chose to leave out the part where he'd kill the lad if he failed.

"He did?!" She brightened at that. "Oh, then you have nothing to worry about! Oz is brilliant when it comes to tinkering! He fixes anything he can get his hands on. He pulls it apart, sees how it all fits together, and makes it better than before! I have this old music box my elder sister gave me years ago. It broke shortly after we arrived here, but Oz was able to make it work again! He also fixed Ol' Boss's pocket-watch that hasn't work since before Boss inherited it! Your 'method of transportation' must be something extraordinary if Oz was assigned the task."

"You speak quite fondly of him." Leon noted aloud as he readied to serve dinner.

"Yes, well, he's been tutoring my sister and me since he showed up." Notte explained, still beaming at the thought of the young lad. "He's a little skittish and shy, but he's absolutely brilliant! Not to mention he's well educated too. We're not sure where he came from, he just showed up one day out of the blue, but my family looks after him the best he will allow us. He tutors us for meals, he catches us fish or small animals when he needs to stay the night, and his cat catches all our pests too!" She frowned slightly at her next thought. "But the boy is so stubborn! He won't stay here for more than a night because he's worried his presence will cause a commotion with the locals, so he rents a room from the local harlot just because no one cares if he stays with her. No one thinks much of her anyways because she associates with the Marines. She's so mean to him too! She kicks him out of his own room if she has some of her marine _company_." The young woman paused when she realized what she was doing and let out an embarrassed laugh. "Oh, just listen to me gossip! I highly doubt a room full of men are even _interested_ in the local goings-on!"

"Not true!" Oddmund was the first to deny her statement.

"We love to hear you talk, Miss Notte!" Ignaas followed up.

Notte laughed cheerily with a huge smile on her face. "Ah, how sweet of you~!"

"Though I don't doubt for a second that your captain is using my sister's chatty nature to get some very valuable information about this village and its inhabitants." Another beautiful young woman, perhaps a little older than Notte, came from the same hallway under the staircase. She too had the same accent as the dark haired beauty. And though she had many similar traits, this one was a golden blonde with sky blue eyes and a pleasant tan.

Law didn't even bother refute her statement. She was right.

"Oh, Soleil! Is Auntie Pluie finally asleep?"

Soleil nodded. "She is. It's always difficult for her when the weather gets bad like this. Her joints flare up every time." She quickly glanced out the window and perked at her discovery. "Ah! It's starting to rain and pretty hard at that."

"Auntie Pluie does it again!"

"Indeed." Soleil agreed before looking back over to Law. "And to answer the question my dear sister never ended up giving: No, a man would never be fully accepted within this community. They allow Oz to work at the shipyard so he can support himself and even that is only because of Boss's kind nature." She had crossed over to sit on a stool next to her sister, eyes still trained on Law as she continued. "So, Mr. Law, what do you intend to do with that information?"

"Dinner's ready!" Leon interrupted before Law could even answer, causing all attention of the Heart Pirates to fall onto him at those words. "Go sit at the table over there and I'll serve you all up." He looked over at the two women and gave them a quick smile. "You too, Miss Notte, Miss Soleil."

"Really!" Notte smiled warmly at the invitation while her sister looked slightly hesitant.

"Oh, you do not have to include us. You are the guests after all and-"

"I might have cooked the food, but it _is_ your food I cooked. Just dock your meal off of our final bill." Leon assured the blonde. "It's not often that I cook for anyone other than this lot, so just humor me, Miss Soleil."

"If you are sure." Soleil nodded, slowly approaching the table that everyone else were beginning to occupy.

"You'd be doing us all a favor by joining us!" Penguin promised her as he pulled out a chair for her to sit.

"We travel for days on end with just a bunch of men to stare at! Both you and Miss Notte keeping us company is a real treat for us!" Oddmund decided to add, pulling out a chair for Notte.

"And having women around reminds most of them to use their manners." Elias received a few glares from the mechanics for his comment.

Notte laughed at that as she sat down, thanking Oddmund for being such a gentleman. While Soleil slowly walked to the table, unsure if it was really polite to accept their invitation. Though it was their food Leon had cooked (and they would bill him for it later), he had made this meal with his nakama in mind, not two lowly innkeepers. Even though she was unsure, she never stopped making her way to the table. Just as she was about to sit down in the chair Penguin had pulled out for her, the front door of the inn opened and in walked Oz, soaked to the bone with a large black furball darting in after him. His jacket was not on him, instead covering a long cylinder container that he often used for protecting his longer documents or papers or designs from the elements. The rain must have been so heavy that he had been worried about his cargo and forgone his own welfare to keep it safe.

"Oh, Oz!" Soleil was the first one to reach him, quickly taking the canister and setting it against the front desk. "You're absolutely soaked and in this weather! Notte! Go get a towel so we can get him dry fast!"

Notte was out of her seat and already on her way to do just so way before Soleil had even asked her. She was quick in her errand and was back in a matter of moments, throwing a towel over Oz.

"S-s-sorry about dr-dropping in on you un-unexpectedly..." Oz said through chattering teeth. "Tabith-tha h-had a-a-a gue-guest out o-o-of th-the blue..."

"And she kicked you out!? At this time of day and in this weather?" Soleil was indignant on Oz's behalf.

"Sh-sh-she didn't w-w-want h-him to s-s-see me..." Oz shrugged as he looked at the hardwood floor beneath him. "Sh-she didn't w-want him t-to s-see T-tei-s-s-sei either."

"That... that... that bitch!" Notte fumed. "She has no right to do that! You need to stick up for yourself every once in a while Oz! Or at least come live here with us!"

Oz shook his head. Before he could even give his rebuttal, however, a hot drink was thrust into his line of view. He jumped back slightly before snapping his head up to look at the man offering him the hot drink.

"Here, it'll warm you up." The man was dark skinned with thick dark hair slicked handsomely under a white fedora hat with a grey hatband. Oz stared at the man's kind storm grey eyes for a moment before accepting the drink and taking tentative sips. His teeth stop chattering shortly afterwards as he slowly began to warm back up.

"Thank you..." He muttered under his breath, shyly avoiding eye contact once more with the stranger.

"You're quite welcome." He said before turning to look over at someone near the fireplace. "I'm assuming that this is the same Oz you employed this morning, Law?"

"The very one." Oz nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized that the pirate captain from this morning was in the room. He nearly smacked himself in the forehead with his palm when he realized that _of course_ he would be here. Shachi and Penguin _said_ they were staying at Bella Inn and that would mean their captain too.

"What a wonderful coincidence that has brought us together again so soon, Mister Oz." Law gave the young lad a frighting smile as he continued to lounge against his navigator.

Oz immediately became rigid, but despite his choking fear of this particular captain due to the man's earlier threat, he managed to find words to speak. "I-i-inde-e-ed... S-s-sir."

"Hmm?" Soleil seemed to be the first of the sisters to noticed the lad's nervousness. "Is something wrong, Oz?"

Oz shook his head, ripping his gaze away from the pirate captain, but before he could reply to the dark haired woman, he was interrupted by a surprised shout.

"What the hell!?" One of the men at the table shouted as the lot of them jumped back from the table out of shock. One or two of them had even managed to knock their chairs over in their surprise. Oz glanced over before letting out a small chuckle as he suddenly relaxed.

"Teisei, that is _not_ your food. I also believe it is extremely poor manners for you to be on the table. Get off so these men can continue their meal." Oz calmly spoke to the creature upon the table.

Teisei, a black cat with even darker stripes decorating his fur, glanced up at his master with his silver colored eyes. He stared for a moment before hopping off the table and gracefully trotting over to the fireplace to get warm and dry off.

"What the hell is that thing?" One of the men near the table asked.

"Teisei?" Notte seemed confused by their reactions. "He's just a cat."

"Just a cat? No." Penguin shook his head in disbelief. "A cat is a small little animal that barely reaches halfway past your calf. _That_ monstrosity probably comes up to my knee! That is _not_ just a cat."

"Teisei is a bit on the big side, I suppose." Soleil relented as she looked at the feline lounging contently in front of the fire. "But he's a cat."

"Whatever you say..." Shachi mumbled, still looking rather unsure, but as long as the 'cat' wasn't dangerous, it really didn't matter.

The men slowly sat back down at the table, not yet taking their eyes off the giant cat or Oz, whichever one had their attention. Much to Oz's distaste, the eyes of the pirate captain and the man who had given him the drink were once more on him.

"So Mister Oz," the man before him started in a smooth, soothing tone. His voice was a little higher than the captains, but still quite masculine. Oz forced his eyes away from the spotted hat of the lounging captain to look at the dark skinned man before him. "We were just about to have dinner. Would you like to join us?"

"Oh, no! I couldn't!" Oz shook his head. His voice pitched for a second before he managed to return to his low, quite tone. "You're paying guests at Bella Inn and it would be very rude of me to intru-"

"Oh, pish-posh. If you're about to say it'd be rude of you to intrude on our dinner, you better rethink your argument, because you're not intruding in the least." He folded his arms as he easily towered over the small lad. "Now go sit down before I sic Law on you." He quickly turned his attention to his captain before continuing to speak. "And you. Get off of Bepo, wake him up, and come get dinner, Law. I am not about to listen to you bitch at me because your dinner got cold. I'm not going to heat it up again."

Law sent him a nasty look, one that Oz surmised the man beside him was familiar with because he wasn't fazed in the least by it, returning a look of his own. Law broke eye contact first as he turned his attention swiftly to his book before closing it and nudging the orange blob that he was reclining against.

"Oi, Bepo. Dinner." Was all he bothered saying before getting up from the floor.

Oz nearly had a panic attack when the orange blob turned out to be a _polar bear_ in a orange jumpsuit. Not just a polar bear, but a _talking_ polar bear.

"Is it fish?" Bepo inquired almost instinctually, since he broke out of mid-snore to ask the question. His head barely off the floor as he asked.

"Of course, Bepo." Bepo sat up quickly at that answer, giving the cook a genuine smile.

"Ooh! Thank you, Leon." He paused when his attention was diverted to the black cat that had suddenly meowed loudly. He listened for a second at the following noises the cat made, causing the rest of the occupants of the room, save Law who was almost to the table at that point, look at him curiously. Finally he turned his attention back to Leon before addressing the tall, lean man. "Teisei was wondering if he could partake in dinner as well. He says that the fish smells wonderful. Also, he would like to apologize now for startling the men at the table. Though it was his intention to spook them, he admits that it was rude of him to do so." He paused for a second as if thinking about the next part of what the black cat said. "He also says that if you let him eat with you, he won't leave the entrails of dead rats in your beds while you're sleeping..."

The room went silent for a moment as the inhabitants tried to process what Bepo had just translated. Oz looked ready pass out in fear of what the dark captain's retaliation would be to such a statement. Even Notte and Soleil were frozen to their spots in shock (though only because they were surprised at how blunt yet oddly polite the cat truly was).

"Teisei!" Oz finally hissed at the cat, giving it the evil eye. The cat didn't even looked bothered by it, instead rather pleased with himself. Oz immediately turned to where Law was now standing, having stopped shy of just sitting down when Bepo translated the second half of what the cat had said, and gave an apologetic bow. "I am so sorry, Mister Trafalgar... Teisei... well, honestly, this is the first time someone's translated his intentions... though that does sound like something he was probably going to do... Sooo... What I'm trying to say is... I'm sorry my cat is being a sadistic little bastard towards you and your men, especially since you employed me to fix your submarine."

Oz was expecting a lot of things from the tall, lanky captain, just not what actually happened. Law didn't seem to take offense to what the cat had said at all, instead found it rather humorous, if his dark laugh was anything to go by. Oz couldn't help but shiver at the sound of such a malicious laugh, but was even more flabbergasted when the man merely sat down at the table and pulled a nearby empty chair next to his before giving his odd reply.

"Not only can you _partake_ of our dinner, but you can sit next to me as you do so." Law let out another twisted laugh before looking at the lot still standing at the door.

Oz was still buried in a towel, considerable drier than when he came in, holding a half-full cup of tea while standing alongside their hosts with a look of disbelief _shared_ between all three. Leon was giving him one of his 'you're not serious' looks as he stood there, arms crossed as he watched the black cat frolic happily to the wooden chair.

"Are you all going to join us for dinner or not, ja? It's getting cold and Leon has already decreed that he will not be heating it up again."

Leon nearly smacked him upside the head for that one. Nearly. Though, Law was sure that if it had been just the two of them, or perhaps even if only Bepo was present alongside them, the slightly older man would have surely done so.

However, Law's teasing words seem to break the tension within the room, unfreezing the few standing people from their spots and putting those already sitting at the table at ease. As Oz, Leon, Bepo, Notte, and Soleil joined the dinner table, Oz couldn't help but wonder about the sanity level of this particular crew, especially their creepy, sinister captain.

* * *

A/N: Well, I have finally posted this story! Honestly, at the time that I am writing this author's note and the time that I actually post the story will probably be two very, very different days. I'm a bit of a chatterbox and I honestly don't think a chapter is a chapter till its at least 6,000 words. The first chapter of this story alone is nearly 11,000 words, with my notes, it surpasses that amount... (I wrote a 1,000+ words worth of notes... T_T)

Yes, I am about to write a _lot_ of notes here at the bottom so that you may understand my intentions with this story and why I started where I did.

1) If you have not already noticed, the Heart pirates at this point total to a _impressive_ number of 10. Yes, people, that is my attempt at sarcasm. If you're reading this, you must think I'm at least a passable writer and are interested enough to keep reading. This is my take on Law's own personal journey. Though I didn't start where he gathers up those first 10, I'm introducing the lot of them as I tease you with the prospect of him gaining another member or two or three or whatever on this island.

2) At this point in his relationship with his crew, Law only calls two individuals by name without any formalities. The rest of them are either new to him or previous acquaintances that he's slowly fostering stronger relationships with. He's not too good at that, so it might take him a while to drop the 'Mister' even with his own subordinates.

3) Yes, Leon is black. Not like super black, but much darker than Usopp. A rich hot chocolate color. Why is this important? I don't know. When my mind first conjured up his image and personality, he was this smooth lean black man with a very nurturing nature regardless of the fact that he's one badass pirate. :) He's kinda the ying to Law's yang (or the yang to Law's ying?) though and that's something I hope I'll be able to portray to you, the reader.

4) Roanoke Island. Yeah. It's a spoof on the whole missing colony of Roanoke. Not the actual island in North Carolina, which was named after the missing colony...

5) Why start my story with some weird kid, his sadistic cat, and two sisters? It seemed like a good place to start. Oz, honestly, was the first legit OC I thought up for this story. His cat... well... I seem to have this weird trend about that cat... It's shown up in a few of my Naruto fan fictions and its just fun to add him elsewhere... though his personality is a little different each time...

6) Bella Notte (beautiful night), Bella Soleil (beautiful sun), Pluie (rain). Yeah. They are french words and names and all sort of weather related :) Persephone (the Submarines name) is the name of the goddess of the underworld, wife of Hades. :) I thought that was fitting...

7) Why is Bepo the navigator? You may be wondering. Isn't he the first mate? **No**. Oda-sensei revealed it not too long ago... Bepo is their navigator... which seriously explains the condition of the map Law had of Dressarosa and Green Bit... no really, go look at that map. It's torn, taped and has a big ol' paw print on it. That was before it was revealed that Bepo was the navigator and I told my friend Hitoshirezu Ryu 'What happened to that poor map? Did Penguin, Shachi, and Bepo get in a fight over it or something?' Turns out, that their navigator has paws, not hands... huh.

8) I was going to make the first chapter the chapter where Law gains his new nakama... buuuuut it was getting so long that I am making this a two parter... possibly three...

9) My intention for this story is that you, the reader, take a journey with the Heart Pirates. Not just Law, Bepo, Penguin, Shachi, some female OC love interest, and a few other named OCs, but a full crew of individual characters that you meet and grow to love, just like how we all love the Strawhats! I am trying to attempt to write a fan fiction where all crew members have a name, a personality, a distinct look, and are not just faceless characters. I've seen so many of those and it hurts, in a way, that we don't get to know all of them like we do the Strawhats!

10) This isn't a story where Law finds a single woman, adds her to his crew, and falls in love with that singular female crewmate. Honestly... it sounds sort of like stockholm syndrome that way. Also, that was one of the dangers of bringing woman out to sea. The men get attached because she's the only female for weeks at a time. They all form some sort of affinity for her and that can cause... _problems_ at times... So a singular woman on a sub full of guys is a taboo. Or that's what I think is why it was bad luck to have a woman on board a ship.

11) Yes, there will be women joining the crew. But this is a story on nakamaship and adventure (and slice of life in an odd One Piece way about it)! There might be some romance included later, but it is about the relationships the Heart pirates have with one another! Not just one girl with the captain and a few of his crew members!

Just for fun, I'm going to write the date of the day I made these notes, just so you and I can tell when I actually got around to posting this story. Whether I had the willpower to hold off... or I just couldn't stand it and posted anyways... cause that'll probably happen. I'll get three chapters in, and poof, post this one when I was going to hold off till... well... I can't tell you that... :) **Edit to this note:**I have been without internet for the last few weeks and it has been absolute torture. So, in order to celebrate the return of my internets, I will be posting this chapter! Also, I hardly have anything of the next chapter written (I am so sorry T_T) So I'd like a lot of feedback from you, the reader, to further develop my plot. I love hearing from you all and your thoughts on my story, so please, feel free to tell me!

By the way, I am also co-writing a story with Hitoshirezu Ryu called **_The Dragon Chronicles_**. If you like this story, definitely check that one out. It's into the second arc at least at this point (hopefully) and is going to be one hell of a story the more and more we go into all the aspects of the One Piece world not usually mentioned. We've been working on it for nearly three years at this point and only begun to post it online (since I need to finish the final draft of each new chapter...) So this one and that one will be competing for my attention at times.

Thank you for hanging in there. I'll try to write my notes at the bottom of each chapter instead of the top. So you can get right into the story. I'll try to think of something fun for my reviewers for their constant kindness of taking the time to tell me what they think. I love hearing back from you, my dear readers, and would love feedback. I try to honestly use it or if you are confused or want to ask a question, I'll be happy to answer/explain it. I would love to see how many reviews I can get. I'm aiming for the top! But that can only be possible with your support!

Please, take care of this story!

~Volleys-chan

8/14/13


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